Make Your First Organic Garden A Success

Make Your First Organic Garden A Success

If you are looking for a way to beautify your home, gardening is a great choice! When you add flowers, greenery and even, home grown veggies to your landscape, it can make your deck, patio or yard look cool, lush and inviting. Even if you are a beginner, it's easy to get started on this enjoyable hobby.

If you have plants that are tall, support them with stakes. This will prevent tall plants from drooping over when they are heavy with blooms, which can look very messy. Support climbing shrubs with a lattice to keep the rambling vines under control and to prevent them from invading another plant area.

When digging holes for your plants, don't be a neat freak. Don't dig holes that are perfect, with sides that are as smooth as can be. You are actually making it more difficult for the root system of the new plant to take hold in the soil. For best results, keep your holes a little messy.

If you are planning an irrigation system for your garden, consider a drip irrigation system. A conventional system using sprinkler heads loses a lot water through evaporation. However, a drip system irrigates your garden by a constant slow drip of water beneath the surface, which means less water is wasted through evaporation.

Use groundcover to fill in bare areas of soil. Groundcover plants are very effective for 'tying' larger plants together and keeping weeds to a minimum. The earth needs to be well-cultivated, weeded and well-fertilized before you plant anything. In order for the plant to become well established, water thoroughly during dry spells and remove any weeds that may pop up. Fast growing groundcover plants include creeping thyme, sedum, ajuga, golden oregano, heuchera, lamium and vinca.

Make a plant you love the focal point of your garden. A solid focal point will draw peoples attention to your garden, leaving them to admire your unique design. You want to choose a plant that will stand out, as opposed to blending in with the other plants adjacent to it.

Keeping pests out of a vegetable garden can be difficult. It is important not to use harmful chemical agents, because you are growing produce that is intended to be eaten. Frequently check your garden for pests. If you discover the pests when they first infest your plants, the best way to remove them is to pick them off manually.

Weed the garden often and early. Plan on a weeding schedule for the garden at least three times. The first should be five to seven days after sowing, and again seven to ten days after that. The third time should be three to four weeks after planting, by this time the plants should be rooted well enough to add mulching and sufficient leaves to shade the surface.

Make sure your seeds have enough room to grow. It is fine to have many seeds in one container before they sprout, but you will have to replant them as they grow. Use containers that are actually big enough for one plant, and avoid having more than one plant in each container.

When gardening, be sure to use proper posture. Don't lift with your back, and try to bend at the knees instead of at the waist. Keep your back straight when bending over. This allows you to use stronger and more flexible muscle groups to lift, and also protects your spine.

Use scale, color and texture in your garden to improve interest. Use plants of different heights, putting small ones in front and tall ones in the back. Add a few plants that have deep maroon leaves, which looks great next to greenery. Plant a tree or shrub that changes to oranges and golds in autumn, and mix small-leafed plants with larger-leafed or spiky plants, such as agave.

When you have an abundance of seeds from your garden, a helpful way to store them away without drying them out is to use old, nylon stockings as a storage bag. After you add the seeds to the stocking, simply tie a knot at the top and hang the stockings in a warm, dark place to store until spring.

You can help to prevent your plants from developing diseases with aspirin water. Three aspirins per four gallons of water will help keep your plants healthy. You can easily spray the plans with this concoction to help them fight of disease. Use this method every three weeks.

Use companion plants. Companion planting is the pairing of plants within your vegetable garden, such as planting cabbage with tomatoes. Companion planting helps reduce the problems with insect pests, as it attracts natural pest-controlling wildlife. Companion planting is also a better use of the space in your garden, since you basically have two plants in the same plot.